book nazi

Review: Stella - Mirriam Smyth (eBook)

2012-02-10T09:04:00.003-05:00

Genre: Fiction

Format: Electronic Book

Read: February 2012

Why I read it: Got a Nook Tablet (it was free)

Rating: 1/5 Stars

Published: April 2011

This is one of those judge-a-book-by-its-cover kinda thing. I just got a Nook Tablet and I wanted to try it out, so I got some free books and this one sounded OK and it was short so it made sense at the time. First, let me start with the Nook. I gotta say I am not a fan of reading electronically. I like my physical book but that's a little off. Second, about the book: well, it was just boring and fast and straightforward. These can be good qualities sometimes but in this case it really didn't work. It was so just kinda flat and boring. I am not a writer and I think this would have come from my own hands, which isn't saying much about my writing abilities but like I said I am not a writer and I am actually pretty bad at it but now I know I am not alone.

Review: Girl in Translation - Jean Kwok

2012-02-10T08:49:00.004-05:00

Genre: Fiction

ISBN: 9781611291742

Pages: 290

Read: February 2012

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Format: Trade Paperback

Published: May 2011

It was one of those books that I had for a while and kinda stare at you and yell "Read "e Already!" so I did and I very much enjoyed it. There were parts at the end that I wish didn't happen but it did and so I had to deal with it but other than that it was good. It is about Chinese immigrants who migrated to New York and of how they lived and continue to move in the way of the "American Dream". It really just revolves around the Mother and Daughter. Of course there are other characters but it really focuses on them, especially the daughter, Kimberly.

The good thing was that I could totally visualized all the places since I live near Chinatown and kinda get a realistic view of the story. The bad thing is how horrible they lived and the things they had to endure. It was pretty sad and you just wished you could have reached in the book and helped them but as life is, life is. I do recommend this book for a good quick read.

Happy Reading!

Review: The Winter Sea - Susanna Kearsley

2012-02-07T10:11:00.004-05:00

Genre: Historical Fiction
ISBN: 9781611291285
Pages: 527
Format: Hardcover
Read: February 2012
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Work Book Club

It was hard to rate this because it too a great amount of time to get into. It goes back and forth from the present day and from the 1700's. It is a great little tale about a present day writer who travels to Scotland to write her new novel but gets sudden spouts of deja vu and begins to write about a woman Sophia back in the 1700's and as it turns out is her late ancestor. Carrie (the writer) begins to take the memories of Sophia and writes and all her writings and findings deem to be truth. It is a great story of history and love but it just took a lot to get through at first. There are so many characters and at first I was having trouble keeping up and it was until well in to the 200 page mark that I finally began to follow along and get more into it.

I wonder if I were the only one to have this issue...I guess when we meet for my book club we can thus discuss. Hopefully I will remember to put in this review of what was discussed.

HAPPY READING!

First Review of the New Year: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake - Aimee Bender

2012-01-24T14:42:00.004-05:00

Rating: 3/5 Stars
Pages: 292
Format: Trade Paperback ARC
ISBN: 9780385720960
1st Published: May 2004
Read in: January 2012
Every one's Choice: January 2012
Genre: Fiction

Well, I am trying to catch up on all of my reading since I have seriously fallen behind since my move a few months back. I have said it numerous of times but my commute was cut by 90% and so did my reading.

This book was chosen by one of my Goodreads groups, Every one's Choice, for January 2012 and since my goal is to at least read one book from my online group and one book from my face to face group at work. So one down and here are my thoughts:

It was a nice little book. I really enjoy cooking, even if I am not the best, and I love all my cooking shows so this one touched me a little. It is a sad story and what gave it all it's sadness was pretty much every character. The family is so separated and so hidden that everyone is left behind and there is no real believable love. I can't really explain the sadness in the family but I think you will understand -once you read it. Everyone is so far beyond reach and when they do reach out it seems like at the last possible moment but there still is some beauty in it. Like, I finally get it! I know I kinda ramble but really, this is just a way for me to understand myself and maybe someone can understand me too and get where I am going with this.

All in all, it is a simple book with mysterious people who have great hidden talent and don't understand how it is possible and to what to do with it. The ending was beautiful but I still was stuck at a 3 star rating. Maybe one day I can come back to this and re-rate it and re-evaluate it in my head more clearer.

Review: Wake - Lisa MnCann (Dream Catcher #1)

2011-12-22T16:12:00.003-05:00

Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 210

ISBN: 9781416974475

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Series: Dream Catcher #1

Read: December 2011

That was a quick and interesting read. I fell right into it. I had it on my shelf for some time and decided to read it now because I simply needed a small book so I can finish my goal of 40 for the year. Now I have just one more to go!

I liked this book because it was interesting. It moved very fast but I think I liked that with this book. Some books drag out and I tend to lose interest. Most certainly with many YA books but this one made me go out and buy the other 2 in the series!

The characters were believable and of course I loved Cable. I wish I would know more about him and I think I may just find out. I especially loved that everyone thought he was the "new guy" when he got himself all shiny and new. There may have been a few things that I wish were more elaborated on but I am hoping that these things come forth with the next 2! As son as I get them in the mail I will get to them since I know I can read them in less than a day. Maybe I can get through them both within the day!

Review: Bumped - Megan McCafferty

2011-12-22T08:40:00.004-05:00

Genre: YA Fiction
ISBN: 9780061962745
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 323
Published: April 2011
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Why I read it: Recommended by a friend
Series: Bumped #1
Read: December 2011

Okay so I have no idea on how to rate this. I didn't really like it but I didn't want to smash it against the wall, well, at least not at the end. There was a lot of touch and go in the beginning. It wasn't until the, um, scandal (?) until I kinda started to get into it and to start to understand the jargon. Maybe it is the Mom in me but the language was murder! I know things like this will happen because it always does and I know I use new language everyday and make up my own at points but these things happen gradually and it was gruesome in the beginning but I guess I just answered my own question then huh?

Well, I like the futuristic feel even though it was not too much into the future but who is to say teenage pregnancy for profit can't happen? I'd rather that then trying to flush their pregnancies down the toilet. (That is a whole other blog). I liked the ending and I am sure I will read the next in the series just because I liked the ending....

Review: The Girl Who Chased the Moon - Sarah Addison Allen

2011-12-14T09:16:00.003-05:00

Genre: YA Fiction
ISBN: 9780553385595
Pages: 265
Published: February 2011
Format: Trade Paperback
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Read: December 2011

I loved this book. It was so quirky and young and fresh. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy. It has so much youthfulness involved between all the characters regardless of age. It was real (except for one minor thing). I believed everyone and wanted to be there with them all. I read it in one day and haven't been this excited about a book since The Hunger Games.

I can't really pick out which character I liked best because they all were so lovable. I admired Julia for her constant fight and gift and I love how she justified all of her actions. It was sweet. I loved Emily in all her confusion. I loved Vance for being him and keeping his routines and of his awkwardness. I truly can go on. I just felt that even know there was one oddity in the book everything seemed so real and so believable and this book is exactly what I needed to get back into my reading habits!

Review: Major Pettigrew's :ast Stand - Helen Simonson

2011-12-13T13:56:00.003-05:00

Genre: Fiction

ISBN: 9780812981223
Pages: 358

Format: Trade Paperback

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Read: Nov./Dec. 2011

Published: November 2010

Work Book club read for November

I am kinda embarrassed to write a review since it took me more than a month to read it. Since my move my commute if 90% less and so my "time" is pretty much lost. I am a busy working Mom nut that should really be no real excuse (even though it is a pretty good one) I love my books and I have to make more time for them. Maybe that should be my New Year's resolution!!!

Anyway, back to the book. I truly loved it. I always like to think that I can always feel young no matter at what age. I love how chivalry still exist (in that world or at least England). I always love inter-racial and inter-faith interactions. It always seems odd to me how people still can't shake the idea of this world-wide melting pot. It is not just American and Great Britain anymore. Many countries are "mixing" and it should totally be embraced! My husband and I are inter-racial and we are just fine about it. We never even really thought about it. I see people and people only! That is how it should be so it was truly a joy to read this book and it is recommended by me to all people of all ages and what-not because it is simply a comfortable read that makes you feel good inside and still leaves a good taste in your mouth.

Review: Family - Micol Ostow

2011-10-27T11:00:00.003-04:00

Genre: Young Adult
Format: ARC Paperback
ISBN: 9781606841556
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Read: October 2011
Published: April 2011

Please don't ask me why I read this book. I saw it on Goodreads and it looked like it had some potential and upon opening the book I saw that it was written in episodic verse which I thought was pretty cool and I also thought that it would be a quick and easy read, in which it was, but all-in-all it is just a book. Simply a book. I am not sure if I hated it or if I liked it. I know that I did not love it. The whole repetitiveness was just mind boggling and quite annoying at times.

Family is set in 1969 during the Manson Murders and everyone pretty much in the entire book are hippies and lived on free love and mind control and drugs and blah and blah. I felt sorry for many of the young girls who got caught up in the all mighty Henry. That name was mentioned so much so that I can never look at a Henry again without thinking strange things....

Oh well, I really won't recommend the book but if you must then go on but don't blame me when you are done!

Review: A Mother's Story - Gloria Venderbilt

2011-10-21T10:38:00.003-04:00

Genre: Memoir

Pages: 190

Read: October 2011

Rating 2/5 stars

Format: Hardcover Large Print

I watch the new Anderson show and I never knew much about him and when he had his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt on his show, i was very intriged. I learned that his brother committed sucicide right in front of his mother so when I found out that she wrote a book about it I just had to read it. I read it in one day! It was such a quick read but I felt that the book is more for her than for other's. It seemed like a way for her to clear the air, so to speak. It really wasn't about Carter it was more about her and basically justifying actions and so on. When she did go on about Carter and how he came to die it was truly painful to read. I mean like, being a mom and being helpless to your child is just unbearable. How he did is just crazy! He wasn't even planning on it it was just his meds that made him do it and that is even worse. I can understand that if your life was miserable and you had to go (figuratively speaking) but just to do something because your high or because of your head not being in the right place, just hurts more. I can only imagine how much that had to suck for her.

I rating he book with 2 stars because it was simply OK. I mean, I felt that the book was her way of explaining to the world of her life and really not so much about Carter. I think she really wrote it to help herself. Get the weight lifted. But I truly felt sorry and really wished she was right and someone was going to tell her that he will be right back.

Review: The Pirate's Daughter - Margaret Cezair-Thompson

2011-10-21T10:07:00.005-04:00

Genre: Historical Fiction
ISBN: 9780812979428
Pages: 390
Published October 2007
Format: Trade Paperback
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Read: September 2011
Book Club Read

This book was up and down to me. It was a nice read but sometimes I was missing something. It needed more and less. Does that make sense? There were times when I wanted more information and then there were things that could have been left out and served no purpose. I loved the whole entwining Errol Flynn and Jamaica. How many stories are set in Jamaica? AND the best part was the Bob Marley was not mentioned until page 300. It was a shock! I thought for sure it would have been mentioned in the title.

This was an interesting read and I am glad I read it. I had to google more about Errol Flynn though (In like Flynn). I knew about him and his playboy life but I had to get a better image of him and I think that the author did a great job with weaving fact and fiction. It was what made the book so interesting. Everything else was mere "meh" but because she wove in Flynn it just gave it more magic. It is definitely a good book club book. It makes for great conversation and it is truly a comfort read.

Review: I am Number Four (#1) - Pittacus Lore

2011-09-30T09:17:00.005-04:00

Genre: YA SiFy Fantasy

ISBN: 9780061969553

Published: August 2010

Format: Hardcover

Series: Lorien Legacies #1

Pages: 440

Rating: 2/5stars

Read: September 2011

Did I miss something? I feel that everyone loved this book and even a movie was made from it! I must admit that I read the book and as soon as I closed it I put the movie on. They seemed similar but not like. So many things were turned around and cut out and blah blah. OK this is a book review not a film review nor a comparison but I don't know which one was better. Maybe the movie since I got a visual because I adore Jake Abel!

OK back to the book. I just felt that the characters were so one dimensional. I couldn't really see them and didn't quite understand them. They didn't have much feeling. I really enjoyed the plot and found it very interesting but it didn't make the grade in it's entirety. I am sure I will still read The Power of Six (#2) but this time I won't buy it. I wanted so much more from the book. I loved the whole training scene and really wish they would have put that into the film and I also loved the ending when...well, you know! I really enjoyed the whole idea of the aliens. Who you could only kill them in sequence and of how they knew who would be next due to the markings that they would get and I also love how they can only get stronger when they are all together. Well, we have yet to really see that but I can get the idea.

I can't leave this blog until I mention Pittacus Lore. First I hate how he used that name in the book as well. It is like "liking" your own status on Facebook. It is just something you don't do and I know that Lore is Jame Frey(author of A Million Little Pieces and is infamous for saying -to Oprah no less- that is was a true story but was later found that it was mostly BS). I don't blame him for making pseudonyms for his writings (there are more names) but just don't put your name on the cover and in the book -it's just weird.

Review: the Dolphin People - Torsten Krol

2011-09-23T09:13:00.003-04:00

Genre: Historical Fiction

ISBN: 9780061672965

Pages: 384

Published: December 2009

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Read: September 2011

I am still not too sure how I feel about this book. Maybe I can figure it out buy the time I finish this post. It is about a German family with 2 boys and whose Dad died during WWII so Mom had to marry his brother. They were going to Venezuela to live when the plane crashed and they had to swim to land where the ran into the Yayomi Indians and convinced them that they were the dolphin people so that they could stay with the tribe until they could find a way to escape. When the arrived there they met another German who was an anthropologist who was living amongst them for eleven years. He became the translator and help them create "lie" to explain their behaviors and such.

The story goes on just on how they tried to be one of the Indians and it was a very interesting story and very convincing. I love Anthropology so much so that I got my BA in it! I really do enjoy reading about Indians (more of the Maya but I can settle for others too). I also love to read about WWII so this had the best of my faves so maybe that is why I liked it as much as I didn't know I did! See, I know that I could pin point how I felt about this book after I finished the post! I just had to get it all down so I can sort through it. Just like the Archivist in me!

Review: City of Ashes (Book #2) - Cassandra Clare

2011-09-16T10:04:00.004-04:00

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 454

ISBN: 9781416972242

Series: The Mortal Instruments #2

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Read: August 2011

Well, this is the second installment of The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare and it has been so long since I have read the first one, City of Bones so it was kinda hard for me to retrace and remember what had happened. I remembered a few key points like who's who but I got tied at certain pages and just was hoping that it would all come together in the end, in which it did. I am going to have to read the next few 2 books more closely together so I don't lose track of the stories.

I liked the book because it kinda had this adulty-youthful innocence to it. Does that make sense? I mean, I know that these are teenagers who think they know the world (what teen doesn't think that?) but having to grow up quickly under the crazy circumstances. Even know these are teenagers they talk with such authority and reassurance. Whatever I mean it makes sense to me.

Of course I love Jace too and I am glad he is not my brother! He is still up for grabs huh? I mean, I am almost positive that they are going to find out that they are not really related. I mean, come on, what are the building up for? I can read between the lines. It is a destined love! I am just going to have to put the next 2 books up a little on my list to prove my sanity!

Review: Half a Life: A Memoir - Darin Strauss

2011-08-29T18:16:00.004-04:00

Genre: Non Fiction
ISBN: 9780812982534 - ARC
Pages: 191
Format: Trade Paperback
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Read: August 2011

To start, I got bored. I feel that this book was probably more for him then for the audience. I liked it and then...like I said I got bored and I do feel kinda bad about it because if it were the other way around I would hates for someone to rate my real life with such a low rating, but I didn't really hate the book. I found it quite interesting...

I should tell you that this book is about a guy who had killed a girl with his car, by accident, when he was in high school. This is 20 years later and he talks about how he lived with the guilt and how it was a process, a long one I might add, of how he came to terms with it. It was crazy of what he had to deal with and of all the ups and downs and the B.S. he had to endure but I still felt that it would have been a great article or essay. I don't really know why I am giving it 2 stars maybe its because I thought it as simply just "Okay".

Review: In Serena's Web - Kay Hooper

2011-08-26T11:21:00.002-04:00

Genre: Fiction
Format: Mass Market Paperback

ISBN: 9780553590555

Rating: 1/5 Stars

Read: August 2011

I only picked up this book because I was nervous about the minor earthquake here in NYC that I left my book at work. So when I got home and wanted to read I wanted to read something small and quick. I saw this book that someone had given me and I decided it looked small and easy and it was but it just wasn't a good story. It could have been if there were more details and excitement. It moved to quickly and I feel that there was a lot of parts left out. Serious parts. I just felt like I walked into a major story and was left confused and wanted more. I just don't think it really wasn't much of a read and I felt cheated.

Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

2011-08-23T11:53:00.005-04:00

Genre: Non-Fiction

Pages: 345

ISBN: 9781400052189

Format: Trade Paperback

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Read: August 2011 - Work Book Club

I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would. This is about a black woman who had cervical cancer in the 1950's and the doctors took a sample of her tumor and watched as her cells miraculously grew (and continue to to this day). There are a lot of scientific terminology in here but it is not too hard to follow. I loved how Skloot really dug into the family and revealed a real person behind the HeLa cells. The best parts of the book of our when Skloot goes into the past and see the family and of how they felt about what was happening to the cells of their mother/friend/wife/cousin/Aunt etc.

We have all heard about HeLa cells but no one really ever thought behind it and really, who would have if it is not truly linked to us? I mean, now, reading the book, it seems like it is linked to everyone as a whole because of the things that come from it. All that research being conducted on so many different things gave cures and better insights to diseases and so on. HeLa cells have a enormous impact on our lives as a whole without us even knowing and Skloot's book finally gives life to what is such a great scientific history,present and future to us all!

Review: On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan

2011-08-04T10:34:00.003-04:00

Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780307386175
Pages: 203
Format: Trade Paperback
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Read in: July 2011

Just a joy to read. First , it is a good quick read. Definitely a beach read. It is beautifully written and simply "breathtaking". I love the purity of it all and the simple messages it holds. You would have to read it to completely agree. I love the line at the end "This is how the entire course of a life can be changed - by doing nothing." I thought it summed up the whole book and I thought it was a genius way to wrap up the book.

This is such a simple book that carries so much meaning. I really recommend it.

Review: After the Moment - Garret Freymann-Weyr

2011-07-20T09:47:00.003-04:00

Genre: YA Fiction

Format: Small Hardcover

ISBN: 9780618605729

Pages: 328

Published: May 2009

Rating: 2/5 Stars

It seems like very few people are giving this book a 2 star rating but I just couldn't get through it. I was bored and felt somewhat disconnected. I just felt like it was too drawn out in the beginning and just took forever to get to the point of it all. The very beginning (titled: A Few Pages) was so inviting that that is what kept me motivating to finish and yet I still couldn't. Maybe it is just my adult mind wanting and expecting more but I just thought that it fell flat and took me a long and hard time to finish something that seemed so simple.

I was bored.

Review: A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan

2011-07-12T10:04:00.006-04:00

Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780307477477
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 340
Published: June 2010
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Okay, there are so many mixed reviews regarding this book and I can totally see why. First it won a Pulitzer Prize and is a National bestseller so many people had high hopes. Second it was simply just a good read, not amazing just good. People I have talked to about this book said they didn't like it and that they didn't like the mixed stories but I liked that about it. All the characters were woven together and time was going back and forth and where many said they couldn't follow it, I sure had no trouble at all.

I can see why it got so much praise and awards because of her style and intelligence but I still feel that there was something missing. I loved how some of the lives were intense and glorious but there were other stories that I just wanted to pass by but I guess that's what makes a good story. I mean, we are reading about peoples lives and how they all come together in one way or another (especially in NY) so to say that some lives are more interesting than others, in an understatement!

I loved the whole rock star, punk age thing and I loved how everything turned out. These were rebel teens who are now parents and have settled into a more suitable life. I don't know how to put it into words but it totally makes sense in my head!

Review: Mockingjay (Book #3) - Suzanne Collins

2011-07-06T11:28:00.004-04:00

Genre: SyFy/Young Adult/Fiction

Pages: 390

ISBN: 9780439023511

Published: August 2010

Series: The Hunger Games #3 - Final

Rating: 4/5 Stars

First, it is a sad day that my beloved series has come to the end. The only thing that hold me together is knowing the movies will be out beginning in March 2012. Of course I am not alone in saying that this was not the best in the series. I thought it would turn out the same but differently. The ending was just boring and did nothing for me. (I love you Gale!) There were parts where I was just so excited and then I thought I knew what was going to happen and then....nothing. I predicted a lot of moves and saw what was going to come but there was just some parts that I was just left feeling empty and kinda sad that it happened the way it did for those of you who read it, I am sure you felt the same on some pages).

The very worst part of the book was the children at the end. I felt disgusted and wrong but I guess that is what had to be done, but still I felt horrible reading it and it left a bad taste in my mouth.

But my favorite characters are of course Gale and Haymitch and where I am supposed to love Peeta I just couldn't believe he was so true and genuine. I guess that's just my personality. I had my ins and outs with Katniss and just figured I better just leave it be because you can either love her or hate and I just can't figure out which side on I am on. I also couldn't understand Annie but I don't blame her for anything and of course who couldn't fall in love with Finnick??!!

It was a great series and I haven't felt this much love for a series in...well, never! SO thank you Ms. Collins for a fantastic journey and I will see you at the movies!!!

Review: Catching Fire #2 - Suzanne Collins

2011-06-17T12:16:00.004-04:00

Genre: Young Adult SiFi fantasy

ISBN: 9780439023498

Pages: 391

Series: The Hunger Games #2

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Published: September 2009

Talk about a cliffhanger! Jeez!! It is going to be a sad day when I finish out this series. This was by far my fave thus far. I hear reviews about Mockingjay stating that it is really good but not as good as the first 2. I left it home so it is going to be a horrible commute home. But I will be happy when I crack open that spine to the final book in the series.

There are many reasons why I liked this one a tad better than the first: I love how the really bring in more people and give more personalities to the one we already have grown to love. There is a better understanding of the Capitol. The most important, is the rise of the people.

I hear people saying the are "Team Peeta" and "Team Gale" but I am like Katniss, and I just can't choose. I love Peeta for his poise and vulnerability and I love Gale for being strong and forgiving. In a perfect world, can't she have both???

I will start Mockingjay tonight in hopes that I can deal with the devastation of an ending the my most beloved series!

Review:The Hunger Games #1 - Suzanne Collins

2011-06-14T09:02:00.004-04:00

Genre: Young Adult SiFi Fantasy

Pages: 374

Format: Hardcover

ISBN: 9780439023483

Series: The Hunger Games #1

Rating: 5/5

What was I thinking?? I brought the first 2 books because I trusted my fellow readers and when Mockingjay (the third in the series) came out, I went ahead and pre-ordered it. I kept putting it off and promising myself I will get to it but never really doing it. Then, I moved and I let someone borrow my next read and I read it so quickly that I needed something to read and this series was just sitting there begging to be read. I figured it was a YA so I should fly through it but that is an understatement. I truly love it and I am about 39% (according to GR) through the second installment, Catching Fire. I just can't believe I waited this long. I truly and absolutely loved the first and I can feel I will love the rest of the series.

This was and is such a crazy read. It's a little harsh because of all the killing and deaths for a YA but I guess it is simply age appropriate. This is a sick sad society where they put 24 people who are between 12 and 18 years old, into an extreme environment where they are to fight to the death and the last one standing is the victor. there are 12 districts and 2 are chosen at random to take part in this madness, one male and one female, for each district. So the only one who would really kinda know each other personally are the two from each district. Well, once the games begin, boy do they begin!

This is such an intense quick read that I highly recommend to all ages about 15 years-old.

Review: Chef: A Novel - Jaspreet Sungh

2011-06-10T08:56:00.004-04:00

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 256

ISBN: 9781608190850

Published: April 2010

Rating: 2.5/stars

I really do love book on India and surrounding countries. There is so much history and culture there and I have tackled many books on them but if I didn't I would never be able to really follow this book. Jaspreet Singh writes as if everyone who reads the book knows the things he speaks of like certain foods, and phrases, and clothing. Anything really.

It was a nice story with it's many twists and turns but nothing that really stood out. I think that if the writing was more written in a little more precise understanding then I would have loved it more but I really do appreciate that it was not written like that because then it takes away from it's culture and it's uniqueness. Do I make any sense? I read the book. I liked the book. I just didn't love the book. I did enjoy some talk about the wars and the cooking but I didn't really need to read the recipes.

My biggest complaint may seem like it is the writing but it's really not, it is more about how I just didn't fall in love with it. That may be one of the reasons but it truly is just how I wasn't entirely drawn in by it. There is a lot more to this book but I don't have really uch to say about it.

Review: Where She Went (#2) - Gayle Forman

2011-06-06T08:55:00.002-04:00

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Pages: 264

ISBN: 9780525422945

Series: If I Stay #2

Rating: 4/5 Stars

It took me some time to read this but for personal reasons only. I think I would have read this is a day if I had the opportunity. It was a very good read. It was interesting to really understand the minds of the young couple, Adam & Mia. There were time when I just couldn't believe the decisions that they made being as young as they are but I guess it can happen. I really liked the book just the way it was. In the beginning I was a little angry because I thought it was going to end entirely different but it ended perfect and I couldn't ask for anything more.

The first book in the series, If I Stay was more about Mia and her thoughts and this book, being the second in the series, was more about Adam. It was nice to think that in such height and weight of the story it still turned out to be very touching.

Review: 1916 - Morgan Llywelyn

2011-05-20T09:26:00.003-04:00

It was a good read but I don't have much to say about it. I found it was very intriguing and it was interesting of how this one guy went through so much like surviving the Titanic, Bloody Sunday, and the Irish Rebellion but it was also very coincidental. I mean, maybe that did happen to one person but it was hard to believe but it is a book right? Maybe I should have read this book after I finished school because it took me so long to read it and I was just not as focused as I should have been. I still think I would have gave it the same amount of stars but I think I would have more to report.

Review: Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories - Tim Burton

2011-05-10T09:14:00.002-04:00

Genre: Short Stories / Poetry

ISBN: 9780668156817

Pages: 128

Published: November 1997

Rating: 5/5 Stars

I got this book because I am a huge fan of Tim Burton's stuff. He is truly an amazing artist and a creative genius. I loved this book of short stories. I laughed throughout the whole thing and just thought it was such a fun and interesting read. He never ceases to amaze me. it took me some time to find this book and when I finally did I just had to read it straight away! I totally recommend this book to anyone with an open mind!

Review: The Paperbark Shoe - Goldie Goldbloom

2011-04-29T09:26:00.002-04:00

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Trade Paperback/ARC

ISBN: 9780312674502

Pages: 384

Published: March 2011

Rating: 3/5 Stars

I really wanted to love this book. I did, but I didn't. I was up and down throughout the whole book. It truly was a great story about Australia during WWII and the effects on the Italian prisoners and I loved the whole story but there were things that just didn't hold me up. I kept saying "This is great" and I keep going and then I would hit a stump and be saying "how much longer?". I just kept staying unfocused and many points just weren't holding me.

I truly feel in love with Mudsey though and she was the best part of the whole book. I just felt so sorry and so proud of her. She just wanted to be loved and just wasn't getting what she truly deserved. But she said strong all throughout and even though she seemed so strong she had a "kid" moments which was amazing. If you are going to read this just keep in mind that it may fall off at times but it is still a good story.

Review: The Ghost Trap - K. Stephens

2011-04-19T08:10:00.005-04:00

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 326 (ARC)

Format: Oversized Trade Paperback

Published: 2009

ISBN: 978098151471

Rating: 4/5

Another great free copy from the TNBBC via the publisher. At first I thought that I wouldn't like it as much as I did but I trust Lori (the super-mod from TNBBC) and she gave a pretty sweet review and how could I pass up a free copy??? SO I gave it a shot and boy am I glad I did!

This book sets the stage for lobster wars in Maine and how small towns function as a whole and the daily lives of it's people and how important it is to them all. These so-called wars are insane and get never let things go but it makes for a great story. Of course I loved Anya and Jamie but I just wish there was more sensitivity on Jamie's part since Anya's head injury. I can totally understand why Jamie gets a little off the handle with her because it can be frustrated. It is hard to handle someone like this especially since he has she her better and happy and now sort incompetent and fragile. But I just felt she was trying and she needed a little more support from him. Things could have worked out better but I don't think Jamie belongs in a small town and even though he made his way to big cities in the past, I don't feel like he is in the right mind set as the rest of the small townees.

I just love the way Stephen writes. She write the way people today talk (tawk). I like how she really describes the community. She has a real sense of description. I saw everyone and everything and then I looked at Stephen's website and there she had images of Maine and her friends and it made total and complete sense. The only negative I have is that some times I was a little lost and confused at where things were gonna go but then after a second or two I started to follow. I just hate to work so hard at books but I still gave it a high rating so my argument is small!

Want to Win a Kindle?

2011-04-18T12:55:00.005-04:00

So you can win a great Kindle by just purchasing this awesome book!

Go to his page to win http://www.markarayner/marvellouskindle/

His book is titled Marvellous Hairy Check out the reviews on Goodreads!! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6696136

Get another chance to win by "like"ing his Facebook page. Just look up Mark A. Rayner and Good Luck!!

Of course I got my copy now go and get yours!!!

Review: The House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros

2011-04-12T08:20:00.007-04:00

Genre: YA Literature

ISBN: 9780679734772

Pages: 128

Format: Trade Paperback

First Published:1984

Rating: 4/5 Stars

I give this a higher rating then I normally would because I am rating in it on my young adult mind. I would have really, truly loved this book when I was younger and although I enjoyed it now I would have appreciated it more so back when. My adult side says 3 but YA me says 4. I like the style writing. It is a bunch of short stories rolled into one and I can totally relate to the author. Esperanza, was different from the beginning and you can hear it and feel it with her words. Artist such as poets, are not in the same mindset as those who are not artists. They see the world differently, even at such a young age you can see Esperanza being of a different world where she was things as beautiful and ugly and just couldn't grasp why things were the way they were. It was a beautiful story but it had it's flaws. I would have liked there to be more to the stories rather than little snippets but I guess that is just the way it is supposed to be and you can please the world!

Review: Half Broke Horses - Jeannette Walls

2011-04-12T08:05:00.005-04:00

Genre: True Life Novel

ISBN: 9781416586289 ARC

Pages: 265

Format: Oversized Trade Paperack

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Work Book Club Read for April/May

Can't say I was a big fan of this book. The Glass House was a decent read and it was more captivating then this one. I think this book should have came out first. It seems like The Glass Castle would have been a good sequel to this.

Half Broke Horses is about Jeannette's grandmother and although it is an interesting story I was not all too thrilled to read it. It was kinda flat at times and just didn't make me feel like anything after or even while I was reading it. Her grandmother, Lily, was a super strong women and was way before her time and her life was truly interesting but the written story just didn't seem to so Lily's life justice. I feel that Jeannette, although it would seem difficult, should have written it a little better but I do understand that she is writing the story from a different perspective. I am sure sitting down and talking with Lily would have been far more greater than reading it.

Memory Monday Guest

2011-03-31T08:05:00.004-04:00

Thank you Ashley for having me as a guest on your blog From Bleh to Basically Amazing Go check it out and thanks again for the plug. I really did enjoy it and love I just love Ashley's blog. She is super creative and very ambitious so I advise you to follow her!

Review: Absoultely, Positively - Heather Webber

2011-03-30T13:07:00.004-04:00

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: 3 of 3?

Format: Mass Market Paperback

ISBN: 9780312946159

Pages: 307

Rating: 3/5 Stars

I really liked the first 2 books in the Lucy Valentine series. This one was good and I did enjoy it , however, it was not the best in the series. Heather Webber is super cute and is very dedicated to her writing. You can find her everywhere! I never really read books like this but I won a copy of the first book Truly, Madly and was sold. Heather is on Facebook, Goodreads, and seems to pop up everywhere!! I really do enjoy her and I really liked this series.

Lucy Valentine has some sorta psychic ability and she can find lost object when someone is thinking of that object. It leads her to find missing people and solves many other mysteries sometimes funny situations. But what draws me into the books is of how real Lucy character is. Even though "abilities" are non-existent, I liked her as a person. I especially feel in love with Sean and I would love to know more about his story since we only got a little taste of it.

There is a lot I can say about this book and say who I loved and who I hate but the book isn't so long and detailed I feel like I would give it all away but it is a nice comforting quick read so you can probably read the series in a week or two!

HAPPY READING!!!!

Review: The Tiger's Wife - Tea Obreht

2011-03-28T09:02:00.005-04:00

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 338

ISBN: 9780385343831

Format: Trade Paperback ARC

Published: March 2011

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Another win from Goodreads! First, i would like to say that Tea is in her mid-twenties and already writes like she has seen it all! She is a great storyteller and can really invite and pull in the reader. I just love how she have real identities to the people in the story. Of course my favorite story were of the Deathless Man.

The Tiger's Wife is about a young girl named Natalia who is a doctor and she is in a Balkan country. She was very close with her grandfather and he passes away and she just goes back and forth from past to present and remembers him and the great and beautiful stories he has told her. I love Natalia and her grandfather's closeness. It is tender and real. The whole book reads like poetry and Tea really has a way with words.

Review: Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese

2011-03-09T08:35:00.005-05:00

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 667

ISBN: 9780375714368

Format: Trade Paperback

Published: Jan. 2010

Rating: 4/5 Stars

It really took me a long time to read this book, well over a month! Maybe it was because of school, or work, or whatever but it took forever! Whatever the reasons are it is now finished. I read this book because of my work book club and I am glad I did. I may not have read it or I may have just at a later point.

There were things I loved and of course things I hated. I really like Marion, even when I felt a little disconnected with him I still felt closer to him than Shiva. I loved Shiva's turn around at the end and of course I hated Genet. There is so much to this story that I wish I could get into but spoilers are not really my thing. Overall this story is about different cutlers and culture shock. A nun has twins and dies at birth with the father up and running from the tragedies. the reader follows the "older" twin, Marion and goes through his life and what he has to endure. The author did a wonderful job incorporating true events into the story. It is brilliantly written.

The story really is about family and culture and there is so much medical terminology that can get a little boring at times but it deems necessary for parts of the story. There were times when I just wanted to skim over some pages for sake of sanity. It is well over 600 pages and some of it may or may not could have been let out. That is solely up to who the reader is. I do recommend this book but take your time in reading it because there is much to get through. It does hold attention but can have your emotions everywhere.

Review: Memories of My Melancholy Whores - Gabriel García Márquez

2011-02-23T09:12:00.004-05:00

Genre: Fiction (?)

ISBN:

Pages: 115

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Format: Small Hardcover

This little book packs so much emotion! It sounds creepy to be an old man of ninety who recounts his life and love affairs. As he nears the end of his life he wants a virgin of such a young age (fourteen!). This book takes you on a journey of life in every decade. You really have to read the poetry in this book to truly understand it's beauty and to accept what we would normally not. I would like to think that I can have such emotions as I near such a late stage in life. He is old but the way he speaks you would never know it.

Overcrowding!

2011-02-22T13:53:00.003-05:00

I really hate to do this but I just hafta! I had to weed through some of my books. It was hard to do but it is really getting outta control. I have well over 800 books and not counting the books I get for my girls! People give them to me, I find them , swap/trade them, and buy them. They are everywhere. I don't even include my text books from school. These I keep as references. The above pic is not mine but it really could be. I have really no where to put them. I have one very large wall bookcase in my living room and then I got a 2 shelf one, a headboard, and a tall skinny one in my bedroom. They are all front to back and piled everywhere! I truly believe it is an addiction!

So I went through a lot of my books and got "rid" of a few of them. I left some in the hallway of where I live and these are for the taking. They weren't the best books but I knew I had no other home for them. I put many of them up on Goodreads swap and many of them already went and I just give them to people that I know would enjoy them or just to take them off of my hands. Many of these books I knew I would never read or I have read and thought it was OK or I hated it!

My husband is proud but I think he is addicted too. He doesn't read them but I think he buys me more books than I do myself! Oh well, stay tuned to my GR Swap list and maybe you will find something there! http://www.goodreads.com/swap/user/1334924-donna?tab=available

Review: The Island of the Blue Dolphin - Scott O'Dell

2011-02-02T12:57:00.003-05:00

Genre: YA Fiction
ISBN: 0440439884
Pages: 181
Format: Trade Paperback
Rating: 3/5 Stars

I know I may have rated it different if I were reading this and was a fourth grader. I just couldn't really fully enjoy myself. I like the writing and I like the way O'Dell captured Karana and this beautiful island. I could see what he was talking about but most of the time I also felt like I was reading a "how-to" guide. I know now what I would do if I were stuck on an island but I don't even think I would survive as long as she did but I am a city girl and that's where she grew up. Another reason why I didn't love this book was because the story was about her really and I felt no connection to her just the island in itself. Maybe that is what O'Dell had in mind? Or maybe not. I dunno I just rating it as I saw fit.

Review: If I Stay - Gayle Forman

2011-02-02T09:41:00.004-05:00

Genre: YA Fiction

Pages: 234

ISBN: 9780142415436

Format: Trade Paperback

Rating 4.5/5 stars

Why didn't I give this 5 stars? I am still not sure myself but something unforeseen was holding me back. I really did enjoy the story and it took me seconds to read. I loved it and I would like to think that I would be just like Mia's parents when my girl's grow up except for the whole car crash thing!

This is about a story of a young girl of 17 to has a wonderful life and family and it all ends in an instant when her parents and her younger brother all perish in a car crash. She is lying in ICU and walking between the space of life and death. She sees and hears everything around her but it's up to her if she should live or die. All through her decision making she goes over her life and tells us bits and pieces of her story and it is so compelling and heartwarming and of course sad but it is such a good quick story and I am very happy that it is becoming a series and the next installment Where She Went will be out this April.

I do recommend this book to young adults and adults alike. It is truly a great story and I must admit I was a sucker for it.

Review: Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys

2011-01-28T10:52:00.004-05:00

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

ISBN: 9780399254123

Pages: 346

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Format: Paperback / ARC

My husband found this book and I just needed to read it. It doesn't come out until March of this year (2011). The cover is beautiful as well as the story. The video below is a great piece of the story and is amazing of how Ruta incorporated real stories into her own. I knew a lot of Stalin's rule and I too believed he was just as bad as the rest of them , if not worse. Didn't he shoot his own wife?

Anyway, the story is heartbreaking from beginning to end. I loved the epilogue and I just wish I could have read it in itself. Maybe there will be another book? Who knows? But this story was so sad and also courageous. It is a bout a young Lithuanian girl (about 15) and how her, her mother and brother were taken from their homes and cent away during WWII. They were not Jewish but were considered Fascists and criminals because of their rankings in society. The people who were taken away were librarians, teachers, doctors, lawyers and the like. They were sent away to farms and camps to build for the Soviets. It is a very good story and beware because it is very emotional.

I am thinking I need to read something a little more upbeat! All these sad books are killing me!!!!

Enjoy the Video.

Ruta Sepetys discusses her upcoming novel, Between Shades of Gray from Penguin Young Readers Group on Vimeo.

Review: The Kitchen House - Kathleen Grissom

2011-01-25T08:38:00.004-05:00

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 369

ISBN: 9781439153666

Format: Paperback / ARC

Rating: 5/5 stars

What can I say? I absolutley loved this book. Every page was jammed packed with intensity and you just didn't want to stop reading. The only thing I didn't like was that it had to end!

The Kitchen Hosue is written in two voices. Belle who is a slave and Lavinia who is an Irish girl who was with her family along a ship coming to America. Her parents died and her and her brother were split up so she went to live with the captian of the ship but she lived with the slaves. I loved all the twists and turns. I was an emotional wreck at some points and otherrs I was angry and happy. It was just a great book to read. I would love to go on and on about the book but you just have to read it but not my copy because mine is autogrpahed by the author and it is one that I want to cherish.

I was lucky enough to chat with the author on Goodreads via TNBBC
Go check it out and chat away!

Review: The Magician's Assistant - Ann Patchett

2011-01-19T09:11:00.004-05:00

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 357

ISBN: 9780156006219

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Not one of my favorite books but it was readable. I liked how it was a different kind of story and not one that you may have found in many other books. It's about a woman named Sabine who married a gay guy who was a magician and of course she was his assistant as well. They have been doing magic together for well over 20 years and she lived with him, Parisfal, and his boyfriend, Phan. They didn't get married until many years later. It was more for legal purposes because he knew he was going to die. There are many more things going on of course but that's the basics. She finds out after his death that is past was not of what he told her. He had another name and another life years before. Why he lied is beyond me. They give an answer why but it doesn't make much sense to go as far as he did.

Sabine meets his family that she thought were dead and blah blah. There was just a lot of things that could have made it better. There were things that were left unsaid and unanswered and I feel that this book had a lot more potential and that's why I continued to read it but the ending made me angry. Some of it was good but I thought that it was leading up to something bigger. I could ramble on and on about what I wanted to hear and what I got but read it for yourself and then we can chat!

Cheers to a New Year!

2011-01-03T11:51:00.003-05:00

Happy 2011 and may it be a good one!!!

I decided to do my 2011 book challenge as just to complete my A-Z Title Challenge and to tackle some of my bookshelf. I have so many unread books and I just keep buying but yet I still borrow and go to the library. I would hate not to go to the library but I think I will simply take out the books that are from my two book clubs. I have one at work and another on Goodreads - Every ones Choice.

In 2010, I did not complete my destined 60+ Challenge but my excuse is valid. I did a 38 pages thesis! If I counted the books I did read for that, then sure I surpassed it, but I didn't feel that was fair. I don't know why but that's how I feel! So I decided not to pick any particular numbers of books but just to read what I have (or will have because I am sure there will be some good book sales in the future).

Hats off to a new year and I I wish everyone happiness and heath!!!!

The Imperfectionist by Tom Rachman

2011-01-03T11:30:00.002-05:00

Genre: Fiction

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 269

ISBN: 9780385343664

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

I just couldn't finish it. It is not that it is a bad book or anything I just simply could not stay focus and I had no drive to continue on. I got half way through and just was stuck and could not move on. So I went to another book and I know I am just not going to get back into it.

This is not a book I normally would read but it was a work book club read and some one let me borrow it so...

It just dragged and some parts were interesting and could hold me for a bit but when I got to the next "chapter" I just was bored again. There were lots of different characters and I am sure they connected at some point but it just took too long to get there.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-28T11:54:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays as I know I did and with this crazy weather we are having here in NYC (18+ inches of blizzard snow!) it took me some time to post this but belated is better than nothing at all!

My kids had a great time and of course they got many books from Santa: Mickey Mouse, Dora the Explorer, and lots of Thomas the Tank books! I really don't get gifts anymore but my husband gave me the iPhone 4 (which I was supposed to get in October for my b-day but whatever...) but that is pretty much it. I got socks and some coffee and wine from Mom. It's all about the kiddies now!

Since we got all this crazy snow I was hoping to bring my girls out but because we live on a peninsula, it was way too windy! It always happens like that and then I feel like a terrible parent but that's just the way it is.

I hope everyone enjoyed it and for those of you who got hit with this crazy storm, I hope it all melts soon and that it doesn't snow until next year!!!

The Wishing Trees - John Shors

2010-12-21T08:26:00.004-05:00

Genre: Fiction

Format: Trade Paperback

Source: Won an autographerd copy from TNBBC & author

ISBN: 9780451231130

Rating 4/5 Stars

I would love to have given this book more stars but I was held off by it's sadness. This novel is beautifully written and brought many tears to my eyes but it was also very hard to read at some points.

This story is about a father and his young daughter, Mattie going to many different parts of the world as a request from their recently deceased Wife/Mother. She sands them to these places where, Ian, the dad, and her has been before their child Mattie was born. She wants them to connect and grow together. She gives them each letters to open whenever they get to each country. In these letters she writes so sad and it was hard to read.

I love how Mattie and Ian grow together and of how she is an artist and he a simple man. They grow together in such a beautiful way. Mattie is such a Strong girl and forced to grow up so fast due to the dealings of her mother's death. I really could go on about this book but I really would like to thank John Shors, the author for giving away his great novel and to chatting with us as we read along. I truly believe he is such a great person and well as a gifted writer.

The reason why I gave this book such a rating was, not only the sadness. but because it was very touching to read such writing coming from a male. I can only explain it by telling others to read it and they will totally get it.

The Kingdom of Ohio - Matthew Flaming

2010-12-14T12:30:00.004-05:00

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Hardcover / Library

ISBN: 9780399155604

Pages: 336

Rating 3/5 Stars

I have many mixed feelings about this book. I loved the historical aspects of old New York especially about the building of the Subway because I used to work in the NYTM Archives and I currently work for the MTA so it's kinda cool to associate them. I worked on collection of images that were just of the construction of the subway so I really could picture that in my head. I loved the whole thing about Edison, Tesla and Morgan. I have been to the Morgan Library and it is really something else!!!

The love story was nice but nothing too stand-outish. I really can't explain it. Their relationship started off very strangely and I just never really felt connected to either of them. The whole book sorta dragged a lot for me. At some points I just wanted to get to the point already and get to the ending but it seems like it never really came. I took me quite some time to get through the book. As I said I did enjoy it it just wasn't really engulfing.

Room - Emma Donoghue

2010-12-01T10:17:00.003-05:00

Genre: Fiction

Format: Hardcover / Library

ISBN: 9780316098335

Rating 3/5 Stars

*Potential Spoilers*

I am not too sure on how to rate this book. I like the lot but I just could grasp...something. I guess I was waiting for this wonderful great story because of all the reviews and ratings but I guess I was just not one of those people. I did enjoy it and it was a quick read but there was something I just didn't like. Of course there were things that didn't sit well with me but that's because I am a human but those are the parts I liked most about the book. I did love Jack and his innocence and I don't blame Ma for anything. I loved the grandparents and everything did seem believable but yet I guess I just didn't think it was as good as everyone else but that is what makes a great book I guess.

I would have loved to have read about the court dates and of Ma's reaction to Old Nick when they were face to face in court. I kinda wanted to hear his side of the story. I kept playing it in my head. How he had his own family and how they didn't know and all that. I guess that would have made it more intense and shady. Oh well. I still liked the book and just wished there were more but Emma did a great job at adding in the small things like masks at the hospital and of how people looked at her funny because Ma still breast fed. I think her line went something like" that is what you think about?" It's kinda funny because it is true. We are all concerned about her breastfeeding a 5-year-old meanwhile she just spent 7 years in hell! Well, that's the human race I guess!

Little Bee - Chris Cleave

2010-11-17T08:40:00.003-05:00

Genre: Fiction

Format: Trade Paperback

ISBN: 9781416589648

Rating: 4/5 Stars

I struggled to rate this book. I wanted to give it 3.5 stars but decided it was best to give it 4 rather than 3. I really did enjoy this book. It was very intense and emotional. I really liked how normal lives can get so tangled and change so much from one instant. Charlie had to be my favorite because him being Batman throughout the whole thing made me feel better about their lives. I think he was a metaphor for the whole story. Little Bee was great. She was so strong and at times I just couldn't believe her character but I kept going back to her at the detention center. Her learning the Queen's English made sense. I kept thinking she speaks so well but with all that time, I guess anyone can learn something.

Sarah was hard for me to believe too. I guess I am not like her so I can't relate. She seemed too aggressive and too high maintenance. She is just hard to explain and I guess that's where I just felt no connection to her.

I am glad that Andrew was explained better. I was wondering about him since he did play a large role. I wanted to feel connected to him and I thought that wouldn't happen and then it did and I felt better. It was hard to read but at least I got a better picture of him.

I think t ended well because I don't think I wanted to know what happens next and if I did, i could paint my own picture and I would be satisfied.

Overall, I really did enjoy the book. I just felt something just wasn't right and I just don't l know what. I will probably think about it at a later point in which I guess I will just have to update me review.

The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide - Eva Talmadge & Justin Taylor

2010-11-12T09:07:00.004-05:00

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780061997402

Pages: 224

Rating: 4/5 Stars

This is a book about tattoos!! Literary Tattoos!!!! I loved it! I just wish I would have known about it sooner so I could have put mine in there!!! I loved all the different tats and the great ideas. Some of them very so original and then some where just what they were!. My faves were the most simple ones with just one word. I did love how one guy had a whole essay written on his back. That's dedication!!! I will definitely keep this one on my shelves forever!

Jamilia - Chingiz Aitmatov

2010-11-10T09:35:00.004-05:00

Genre: Fiction

Format: Trade Paperback

ISBN: 9781846590320

Pages: 96

Rating: 3.5 Stars

I found this book in the hallway of my building and as I was waiting for some of my recent book purchases to get to me from the mail, I decided to read it since it was so short. Of course I read it in a day and a half (I would have read it in a day but I had to make room for my work on my thesis). I did like it. I don't believe it is "the most beautiful love story in the world" as said by Louis Aragon but I do think it was a nice poetic and artistic view of love and it was a nice little story. I enjoyed the beauty in the songs that they sang and I loved the innocence and youthful playfulness of the characters. It was definitely a good find and one that I will keep with me for some time.

Deeply, Desperately (Lucy Valentine #2) - Heather Webber

2010-11-09T09:38:00.003-05:00

Genre: ChickLit
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 9780312946142
Pages: 302
Rating 4 Stars

OK, I normally don't read ChickLit but I think I should more often. It was definitely a good read. I won Heather Webber's first book in the series, Truly, Madly and loved it so when this one came out a few months back I just had to have it and I read it very quickly because I just couldn't put it down. I just kept smiling. I know that it was very predictable and at points to be a little"girly" but I enjoyed the getaway from all the usual books I read. Her next book Absolutely, Positively comes out in February and I am sure I will reserve it like I did this one.

I love Sean and Lucy's relationship. It just makes you feel good that they may still be relationships that are as passionate without being based on sex. It is hard to believe but you want to believe so it is kinda nice. I loved Sean's Ex-fiance. She just made me laugh and I know that there are people like her out there and it is a bit scary that people can go to such extremes for their own sake and no one else's. There are many things that I can discuss here but I think you'd better read it first because it is truly a good cozy read that will leave a smirk on your face for a few days!

The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton

2010-11-04T08:33:00.005-04:00

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Paperback

ISBN:9780330449601

Pages: 645

Rating 4.5 Stars

I loved this book so much but the only reading why I give it 4.5 stars and not a total 5 is because it was very coincidental and very predictable but it was such a great and wonderful story. It was such a touching story and I thought at first I would not like it but I found myself pushing everything aside just to keep reading. I knew what the ending was as soon as all the characters starting appearing. As I said, it was very predictable, but I still wanted to hear it for myself. I absolutely love Eliza's stories and want to have my own copy of them, complete with Nathaniel's sketches! I also love how they are like her real life stories.

I love all the characters but I didn't like how everything was way too coincidental. Everyone knew one another, even if it was 80- years ago. Somehow they have all met. I know some of it can be possible but it was just too many people knowing too many people. For example: Christan and Nell. Really? That was a stretch. I hated the story of Nick and Leo. Not because it didn't belong, it may well have, I just hated to read such a horror.

I really could go on forever but who wants to read what I write??? Go out and read what Kate wrote! She also wrote a book before this entitled The House at Riverton also known as The Shifting Fog. Her new novel The Distant Hours will be released in November 2010. But as I am a crazed book-er, I would have to wait until that one is on Paperback just to buy it to make my collection purdy! I will get to The House at Riverton soon after my thesis is through (if that ever happens).

The Lotus Eaters - Tatjana Soli

2010-10-27T09:49:00.003-04:00

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Hardcover / Library

ISBN: 9780312611576

Pages: 386

Rating: 3/5 Stars

We read this book for our October book club read at work and I think we all had the same feelings: it was OK. Nothing so fantastic about it. We were all wondering where all these "great" reviews were coming from. I did love how the beginning was the end and you had to keep reading to find out how it got to that point but a lot of it was"really?" I just could imagine a woman going to Vietnam and taking pictures with no real inclination of what war can be, how to load a camera, and let alone culture shock. I understand that she needed adventure and needed to find out what happened to her brother (who died earlier) but I just don't understand...

I did really like the story but there were just things that were hard to believe but then again I don't know Vietnam like others may have. I was the youngest in my book club and they all remembered it and I wasn't even born yet! I did love Linh though, he was by far my favorite character. Helen was OK, and Darrow was unpredictable. At first he was supposed to be this standoffish guy who was a bad-ass per say, but then he was poetic and lovable. I dunno I really did enjoy the story and probably would have gave it a higher rating but because of the above I just couldn't.

The Alienist - Caleb Carr

2010-10-06T09:28:00.005-04:00

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Mass Market Paperback

ISBN: 9780553572995

Pages: 597

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Well, I have finally finished it. I took me pretty much a whole month to read. Not only because it was a large book, but I had a rough couple of weeks and I am working on my thesis, so time really isn't on my side but with that aside I really did enjoy the book. Maybe it would have gotten a higher rating have I not been so exhausted reading (or not reading it for that matter) but this is what it is.

This story is gruesome and mind bending. It is about a crazy killer who does some horrible mutilations it his victim's and brings together many different types of people into a secret investigation to find it's killer. There's a reporter, 2 detective's (who are highly educated and are the first to do fingerprinting), a female cop (which really didn't exist back then), an amazing psychologist (who was very eager and willing to do anything to find out why people are the way they are) and of course Teddy (who was in the police force at the time). There are many other characters in the book that brought their own great personalities and I think it was perfect. Everything in the book needed to be there and it did for a great read.

I love to read about old New York and to feel what it is like to live in the 1800's. Carr did a great job bringing in the characters and historical aspects. I really did like how Carr incorporated so many great things into his book.

This World We LIve In - Susan Beth Pfeffer

2010-09-10T09:44:00.003-04:00

Genre: YA Fiction

Format: Hardcover / Library

Pages: 239

ISBN: 9780547248042

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Well, The Survivor Series has come to an end and as much as I continue to have nightmares I still really enjoyed reading it. This one was not as good as the first 2 but I still really liked it. The ending made my hear trace as to I just couldn't stand it any more and I just was racing to the end to find out more information. I did like the ending but my dear Alex....

This book is about both characters from the preovous 2 books and how they come together and of how they now live after the moon's devestation. I know things move very quickly but it is written in the words of Miranda so we have to take that at face value. I think it is a very wise and safe choice to write like that simply because not only is it easier but many questions can't be asked because this is what it is and i liked that because we are not there and if we were to find the books years later this is what we would know too.

I liked the series and I wish it did not end but as things do we must take it for that and I will continue to have horrible dreams but it still was a good and excited series and I thank you Susan Beth for bringing this to us!

The Art of Devotion - Samantha Bruce-Benjamin

2010-09-08T10:00:00.002-04:00

Genre: Fiction
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 378
ISBN: 9781439153949
Rating 3.5 Stars

I was one of the lucky ones who received this book for free from the author on The Next Best Book Club (TNBBC). This book not only has one of the most beautiful covers I have ever saw but it s filled will poetry, drama, scandals, twists, turns, and just plain ol' creepy-remarkable. It is told in 4 different voices; Sophie, who is the mother of Adora and Sebastian, Adora, who is the main center of attention who everyone seems to love but is crazy in her own poetic way, Miranda who I did feel sorry for in the beginning but grew to seriously hate her, she was the mother of Gigi and the former lover of Sebastian, and then the last voice was of Gigi who used to stay at the home of Adora on a Mediterranean island every summer. It gets confusing in the beginning to remember who is who and who does what but after the 30 or so pages you start to get the hang of it. There is so much melodramatic tragedies and so much scandal that it is amazing. No characters are really likable but I like that about the story. I rooted for no one. The closest person that I liked was Gigi only because I felt bad for her to be trapped in such a world with such people who really only cared about themselves or who were obsessed with something that they could not control.

There is so much going on in this book that it would take me all day to try to explain but it was a good read. This is definitely what people may call a good "beach read". I recall many times when I was reading this that my mouth was hanging open and people on the subway probably thought I was crazy or just plain ol' slow. I think that in every "chapter" I felt like "OH MY GOD, REALLY???" and I think that causes for a good book. I gave it 3.5 stars only because of being so much drama and no happy moments. I know that there were times when I wished for something and then when it happened I was mad. I never, or very rarely, do I give 5 stars and 4 stars bring it very close to 5 so I think 3.5 is a very good rating and I would recommend it to others.

Shanghai Girls - Lisa See

2010-08-31T09:54:00.006-04:00

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Softcover/Library

Pages: 309

ISBN: 9780812980530

Rating 4/5 Stars

I don't know why I can't give it 5 stars but it came very VERY close to it. There were so many times where I wanted to throw my book across the room because I was all too excited or angry with something in the book. Not in a bad way. I love when that happens. I was so animated throughout the whole book. I constantly made faces, whether happy or sad or whatever. There were so many twists and turns and a lot of unexpected things that happened but there were also a few things that I knew were coming. I love to read historical fiction. It paints a picture of a history that you were not a part of but of how it changes the way we know things and how it shapes our lives.

I loved this book and I am very excited to find out that there may just be a sequel which is good because the ending drove me nuts! It was such a cliff hanger! It is a nice marketing strategy but I hate that! I hate when you are left with nothing and are forced to wait until many months later until the next installment comes along but at least I got that. I would have rated the book lower if I had not known about the impending sequel.

I have Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love but have yet to read them but I do hear so many great things so I am excited about getting to them in the near future.

The Zahir - Paulo Coelho

2010-08-25T15:09:00.004-04:00

Genre: Fiction

Format: Softcover

Pages: 296

ISBN: 9780060832810

Rating 4/5 Stars

I read Paulo Coelho: A Warrior's Life - The Authorized Biography by Fernando Morais back in January 2010. I won an ARC from Goodreads and I just fell in love with him. I love that an author can be a celebrity. Here in the states, everyone writes a book, from Justin Bieber to Laurena Bobbett so when people read a great piece of work it's just like "ahh, a refreshing book" but no one ever really thinks of the author so much and after reading The Zahir it makes me look at writer's in a whole new light. I have always thought of writers as being celebrities but many writers don't feel that way. I met a few authors and they just act like it's another day in the office but then again how do I expect them to act? I remember meeting a bunch of author's and thinking" Wow, why am I the only one who is excited and nervous?" and when I asked the other people who were with me how they felt about meeting him/her they just shrugged it off. Why go and meet an author if you aren't gonna be completely celebrity-shocked? I never reacted out of the ordinary when meeting anyone famous but I did respect that they do something that I could never do, such as write, act, or even sing.

Anyway, I may be getting a little ahead of myself. I loved The Zahir and I love how it is one man's journey of finding his wife who left him because she loved him so much that she did not want their "usual" relationship to get in the way of their marriage. Usual by means of comfort and losing touch with what is important and what is true and real. People become so used to their way of life that they forget the most important things and take advantage of what is most important. I found myself writing all his quotes in my little book so that I could never forget his words but I know that writing it was a waste because I will always know his words and always understand what he means when he says them. I can totally understand now why he is such a celebrity. His writings and ideologies are fascinating and true that encourages me to read everything he writes. I follow his blog and get his tweets but having his books on my shelves seem to hold more meaning.

To quote form The Zahir "...if a book isn't self-explanatory, then it isn't worth reading."

Be the Lead Dog - Liz Parrish

2010-08-23T13:29:00.004-04:00

This was a very informative and interesting read. I never thought I would ever learn so much about sledding and their dogs. The book starts off by introducing you to a world of sledding. Liz explains everything about sledding. She explains the roles of each dog, the role of the musher and the equipment used. She even explains the meanings of the commands. This book explains the lessons that are taught and learned by and from the dogs and the musher. It is a close family and team and she goes to explain each lesson in detail even giving you her own person story at the end of each lesson. She also gives some tips on how to better achieve your goal. There is also a notes section at the end of each chapter/lesson so you can write your personal goals, action plan and/or just some notes that may help you along the way. I really think Liz Parrish did a great job with this. She not only teaches you lessons and gives tips she brings sledding to a whole new interesting level.

After - Amy Efaw

2010-08-18T15:08:00.004-04:00

Genre: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover / Library

Pages: 350

ISBN: 9780670011834

Rating: 4/5 Stars

This was truly hard to read yet seemed necessary. It is about a 16 years old girl who was pregnant and delivered her baby on her bathroom floor and then throw the baby in the dumpster outside her house. This is how the book starts so I am not really giving anything away. The story is really about what she was thinking and the events leading to her court hearing as well as her actual court hearing.

There were a lot of unanswered questions but I really don't want to dwell on that. My main focus was on Devon (the girl). Her Mother was never around and when she was it really didn't seem like she was really even there. She was so concerned about herself and never really about her daughter, Devon which leads a lot of people to do things that they normally would not do. I do stick up for Devon for why she did it but I still hate that she did it. I kept wanting her to see the baby and to actually come to terms with having the baby. She denied the whole thing. She kept telling herself that she was not pregnant and that the baby wasn't real. She kept referring the baby as IT. I know many people put the blame on her but I always think that people act the way they were raised to a certain degree. Parents mold their children so I start blaming the Mother then I move on to putting blame on her.

I do like the ending but as I said before there are unanswered questions that I would like to know but you know I hate to do spoilers so I will keep my mouth shut! But I do think that this book is good for young adults because it shows them the consequences and it also shows them that things are real even if you don't want to believe it, you still have to come to terms with your reality.

In My Mailbox

2010-08-16T11:51:00.010-04:00

So of course Barnes and Noble had a sale online and of course I had to ourchase some new goodies. It's always free shipiing if you spend over $25 so I did and most of the books were under $3.99. I pair regular full price for Heather Webber's book because i had to get it and it was released the day I brought it. I won her first novel Truly, Madly a few months back so when Deeply, Desperatly was released, I just had to go shopping. It's funny, because I didn't want to go to the store (which is only down the block from me) because I was afraid I would buy more than I was expected to but I brought quite a stack online though! But these books were super cheap and I think everything (including tax) was about $28. But now I got an email stating that one book is no longer available! Grrrr.....

Here is what I got:

Blood Harvest - S.J. Bolton

2010-08-13T10:24:00.002-04:00

Genre: Mystery
Format: ARC Softcover/hardcover
Pages: 421
ISBN: 9780312600518
Rating: 3.5 Stars

I am at a loss for words. I mean, I really did enjoy this but it seemed a little dragged at points. I did really enjoy the twists and turns and I liked the ending to a certain degree but something didn't quite sit well with me.

It took me some time to get through the book, but no fault to the author, I just had issues because of the missing and or dead toddlers. I have 2 little girls, 1 and 2 years old, so it was a little too close to home but after I pushed through I rather enjoyed it. The ending was a little troublesome to get through too because it was so sick and twisted but it worked. Somethings also didn't make sense to me but I think I may have to go back and read it again because I am sure it makes sense at some point.

Oh well, I gave it 3.5 stars and I am glad that I got a chance to read it and I thank those who allowed me to win the ARC.

Stripper Pole to Heaven - Hunter Hayes

2010-08-09T13:20:00.004-04:00

Genre: Adult Fiction

Format: ebook

ISBN: 9780615231129
Pages: 426

Rating: 4/5 Stars

I was lucky enough to get a first read chance to read this and it was such a good read. I mean Wow! What a realistic read. Hunter Hayes "tells it like it is," so she reeled me in from the very first chapter...Her words evoked laughter,sadness and truth in a way that will make a fan of her work from now going onwards.

The Book Thief Trailer

2010-08-05T09:34:00.000-04:00

The Dead and the Gone - Susan Beth Pfeffer

2010-08-03T16:03:00.003-04:00

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Format: Softcover / Library

ISBN: 9780547258553

Pages: 308

Rating: 3.5 stars

I loved both books in a strage way but this one bothered me more so than the first because it was a little too close to home. I liked how it wasn't as a journal as it was for Maranda's story but it was just Alex's account on everything. Of course for the first few days of reading this i had to put it down because of fear of continuing on reading it. I actually had a nightmare about a tidal wave coming at us. I had to get over my fear and tell myself that it was only a story and to read it as just that.

There are parts of the book that I simply hated. All those deaths of the people that they loved and having no idea if they were dead or alive or even to see people that you care so much about die. It was just sickening but it was a good story all the same. I am not sure if I am selling the book or making you run away from it but I really did think it was a good read. You continue Reading on in hopes that they get out of the City and to safety. You wish many things but you really want to know what happens at the end and that is what keeps you going and makes a good book. I can't wait to get to the third book, This World We Live In. I know that both of the main characters come together in the book and now they have to figure out how to survive yet again and move on with their lives. I wonder if this is the end of the trilogy????

Wedlock - Wendy Moore

2010-07-27T09:31:00.006-04:00

Genre: Historical non-ficiton

Format: Hardcover / Library

Pages: 324 (not including awknowledgments, notes, and bibliography)

ISBN: 9780307383365

Rating 3.5/5 stars

It took me some time to read this book for 3 reasons:

1- It didn't grab me in the very beginning

2- It's summer. I am always tired and lazy

3- I was reading 4 books at once.

After all that I started to get into it and dedicated more time into reading it. I feel that it was a good read and a nice change. It shows you had it really was in the 1700's. I just couldn't believe the maddness and the choas it all became. Stoney was just an unbearable human being and he was such a conniving A-hole! But I am glad that Mary was so smart and it may have taken some time but she got to help herself from going truly insane! I just love that it was a true story, I mean I wasn't happy to find out that people (especially women) were treated as such, but I did like how the author tied in facts and dug deep to gain more insight to the truths and she did a very good job. She writes beautifully and sophisticativly. I wish that there were pictures but it may have been a copyrighted issue but she explained it to where you could see it in your head.

I was never really into reading about the 18th Century but I do enjoy watching films based on this time period so when reading this I played it all in my head. I searched Wikipedia and Google to gain images and to compare notes and I found it all fascinating.

Here is the link to the Wikipedia pages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Eleanor_Bowes,_Countess_of_Strathmore_and_Kinghorne

Here are some images:

Mary Eleanor Bowes Andrew Robinson Stoney Bowes

Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson

2010-07-26T16:22:00.003-04:00

Genre: YA Fiction (?)

Pages: 198

ISBN: 9780142414736

Format: Softcover / Library

Rating: 4/5 Stars

First I would like to say that this book is so painful to read. I kept getting such a lump in my throat. I just kept thinking of how horrible high school can be and what an effect is has on shaping these young adults. I also kept thinking about my own girl. Even though they are only 1 and 2 it still upsets me to think that people can be so hurtful and so blind. I hate this stage in life. It may have been fun at times but teens can be so harsh. They don't know any better and think that they know it all. I went to a not-so-great HS but I survived because i was raised not to sweat the small stuff an I understood that people can be followers and I knew who my true friends were. I hope that I can instill that into my children. I want them to tell me everything that bothers them. I don't expect to get the truth out of them all the time but I at least want to know if someone hurts them.

I heard about this book for quite some time but never even thought about reading it and then of course it was put on the Banned Books list and then I just had to get it. It is also a movie that came out in 2004. The book just hit it's 10 year mark giving me another reason to read it. I just hope that by this book being out that people will not be so naive. I wish that parents weren't so obsessed in their own lives that they forget the most valuable things are at school or at home and should really notice abrupt changes. Don't be blind. Parents shape their children and can make a great impact on their community and should really know what their children are like and so on. I could ramble on forever but I think you should read this just to understand all the thought that circle around my head. I am sure you will see the same things I see and feel what I felt after and during reading this.

The Auschwitz Violin - Maria Angels Anglada

2010-07-15T08:40:00.004-04:00

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 109 (ARC)

Format: Paperback / Advanced Uncorrected Proof

ISBN: 9780553807783

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

I received this book from a fellow Goodreader. She won an ARC on the site and since I love stories of WWII and also love the violin (just the sound I don't play) I asked if she would swap with me and she did and even offered another book called Days of Grace by Catherine Hall. Since this fellow GR'er has similar taste as me I have no doubt that I wouldn't love it.

Well, this book is about a women who inherited her uncle/father's violin after he passed away and the story is of how he created this violin during his time in the Auschwitz Camp. It is a touching and lovely story I just wish there was more to it. I wish it was more of a story rather than events. It was wonderfully written and beautifully translated but I just wish there were more of a story. It felt real and maybe it was. I kept thinking that she just told us what happened without an more than that. I was hoping she who elaborate or even exaggerate. Overall, it is a beautiful story and a very fast read and it's s a new story in comparison to others that you may encounter in your WWII reads.

Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

2010-07-01T10:00:00.004-04:00

Genre: YA SiFi Fantasy

Pages: 563

Format: Hardcover / Library
ISBN: 9780316042673

Rating: 3/5

This book would have been a lot better if it were about 200 pages smaller. It dragged so much at times I had to force myself to continue on. The story line was cute and young love is always dear to read but I really didn't believe Ethan. I mean, two women were writing from his POV and it drove me crazy. First, a young guy like that does not talk the way he does. Not even in the South. There are guys like him just not at the age of 16. Maybe 35??? I don't know it was just hard to believe but then again it was a nice change. It's not like all that magic stuff is true either so it was nice to think that 16 year old boys could be like that too even if it is not true.

I gave such a rating simply on the book being well over 500 pages and most of it was unnecessary so I felt like I was being forced to read it. I only continued to read on because I wanted to know how it ended but I am lucky that I didn't just stop the book. I hate to give up on books. I always try to pull through and this was definitely a struggle but in the end I liked it and would probably read the second installment but probably not anytime soon. I need a break. I would also like to see what everyone else who felt the same way as me, what they thought of Beautiful Darkness. To see if it has the same effect.

SHIVER (official trailer)

2010-06-30T14:54:00.000-04:00

From Ghetto to Greatness - Kevin "Coach" Brown

2010-06-30T13:29:00.001-04:00

I was lucky to get this e-book from the author and although the writing wasn’t truly solid I still enjoyed the book. It was a quick read and it kept my attention at all times. The book grabs you right from the beginning with his train accident. It fully grabbed you and made you want to read more. I really enjoyed how he spoke of his life and made it simple and real. It was hard to read at times because of such sadness but it kept me wanting to read more. It is always nice to read about personal triumph. This story is definitely one of those books that show personal growth. He comes from such a hectic background and at times it looked like he was headed down the wrong path but he would change and be brought back to reality and with all his hardships he learned to cope with it and instead of making things more negative he made them into positives and now he helps people achieve what he had. It helps to have someone really care about you and understand what you are going through ion life and I really feel that he is a positive role model and personal helper to those who really need it. I recommend this book to anyone either looking for some positive reinforcements or simply for just a great read.

Beautiful Creatures Fanmade Trailer

2010-06-29T10:42:00.000-04:00

The Keys to an Abundant Life By Gerry M Hartigan

2010-06-25T11:16:00.002-04:00

Genre: Self-help

Pages: 182

Format: Download PDF

Rating 3.5/ Stars

I was lucky enough to receive this book from the author through http://www.fiverr.com/.

First, I have to admit that upon reading this I kept asking myself if I really could believe all this stuff about believing things would work out the more you put your mind to things in life but as I read on I found some things to be true and understandable. As I said, I am not really into the whole “self help” thing but things work here.

The opening g of the book started out great. I love books that grab you straight away. He speaks of how keys open things and are very important in life. You really can’t go anywhere without your keys and they hold a very special metaphor for life.

I always say those things that Hartigan says such like treat your kids very special and hold them dear to you because the more you love a child, or anyone for that matter, they will be happy and so will you, making life and even the world more happy. Many things he makes clear and is so very true, most of it I already do. I feel I am a positive person and of course there are things I must change. The only thing I would change about myself would be not to be so lazy but it is hard to change when I go to graduate school, work full time, and have 2 babies under 2. It is difficult but as the book goes just stay happy and energy will come to me so long as I keep a positive attitude.

There are many great quotes and positive things in the this book and I didn’t think that I would enjoy this but I read it in just over a day and a half because I was so wrapped in it that I couldn’t let go. I feel that he had many good things to say and he gave such good advice that I hope many people read this and not take it for granted and take it as it is. There are no hidden things and now things that will make things go out of control. Everything is straight forward and easily understood and doesn’t make you work hard. It makes you want to go out and laugh and make life easy and happy.

Poison Study - Maria V. Snyder

2010-06-21T15:19:00.003-04:00

Genre: SiFy/Fiction/Fantasy/YA?

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Pages: 427

ISBN: 9780373802579

Rating: 3/5 Stars

I nominated this book for one of my group reads. I did it based on the monthly genre pick. I picked it based on what I read in the synopsis and thought it seemed interesting but not so much. I felt that the main character, Yelena really didn't have much of a personality. I understand all the traumas and really serious craziness that no person, or people for that matter, should ever endure but still I just felt her as a little flat. There was so much going on that I can understand that there is so much you can fit into a story but I just felt like I needed a little more form her. Even Valek. I wanted to love him but there were times when I was like "who is that?" and maybe that is good rather than bad. Mysteries are almost always fun.

I did like the story. It is not so much my style reading but I gave it a chance and I think it receive a high score on the 5 star scale. It is not the best story but it kept my interest enough for me to push forward and finish the book. As for the series? I probably would get to it just to see what happens to the main characters but I will probably wait a bit to get to it for I have so good books on my list to come.

Tattoo Tuesdays!

2010-06-15T14:37:00.004-04:00

I came across this blog and I thought she really has a good thing going and then I saw that she has Tattoo Tuesdays -which is to show your love of books through a tattoo- so of course I had to join in and she just notified me and said she posted it on her blog, so please go and check it out and also check out all the other great stuff she going on over there. www.25hourbooks.com

Lily's Crossing - Patricia Reilly Giff

2010-06-15T11:58:00.003-04:00

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Pages: 180

Format: Softcover

ISBN: 0440474539

Rating;: 4/5

Okay I have to admit this is not the best book and I rated it mainly on the fact that I was born and raised in the main town, Rockaway. I love to see it all in my head and I try to picture it many years ago. The book is set during WWII so even my parents weren't born then but I know of the shops and the places they spoke of and it brought me back to my childhood and of the beach and our innocence and it was comforting but it was also very sad because what isn't during wars? But all in all I gave it 4 of 5 stars solely on the basis of innocence and Rockaway. I will read on to Willow Run because it the "companion" book of Lily's Crossing.

Honolulu -Alan Brennert

2010-06-14T09:39:00.003-04:00

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Softcover

Pages: 431

ISBN: 9780312606343

Rating 4/5 Stars

I did very much like this book and at times I just couldn't put it down. It has been some time since I read a good book like this. I have been reading so many YA's lately that it was a nice change. As for Honolulu, I liked it enough to rate it 4 stars but not enough to give it the full 5 because there were times when I felt like I was reading footnotes mixed into the book. I know Brennert had to give more detailed information due to the many mixtures of cultures but at times it just drove me nuts. I also think it was annoying that I didn't really believe the main character, I mean, she didn't have any education and yet she "used" big words and it just didn't sound like it was her voice. I know it may be a problem writing from a man to a woman's voice and although I think he did a decent job I just don't think he did such a perfect one. I did like how he wove in true tales and real people and kinda recreated their former lives. It was very interested to read and I liked how he had pictures of them in the back of the book.

I had the privilege to talk with Brennert a while back in regards to Moloka'i and he was still in the works with Honolulu and he said that he fell in love with Hawaii and also loves their history as well as history in general so I was not surprised when I read Honolulu. He really did it justice and told a wonderful and beautiful story of the real American culture.

The Titan's Curse - Rick Riordan

2010-06-09T09:28:00.004-04:00

Genre: YA SiFi Fantasy

Format: Softcover

ISBN: 9787423101482

Pages: 312

Rating: 4/5

Of course I loved it! Why wouldn't I? I never really was one for sifi nor fantasy but once I started this series I just had to continue on. This one was just as good as the first. I wasn't crazy about the second, The Sea of Monster, but all in all it didn't stop me. I am sure I mentioned this in another post, but I really enjoy this concept of Greek Gods and young people being in charge , believe me, it makes sense!

I really am falling in love with Percy! He is just a great kid and he will grow to be an even greater person or a cocky one. It can go either way and after reading the ending of this book I am leaning more towards the cocky! Not so much a Luke, maybe Percy will stay good but I can tell you he may turn arrogant but hey, this is just a thought! I really think his personality will change though.

I can definitely read between the lines and I kinda predicted what will happen at the end but it still kinda had a good shock value and I know what will happen in the other books and yet I still want to read it! I love books like that. It still makes you interested even with it's predictability. Reading this makes me feel young again and whenever I read books like this I get annoyed by the language but then I keep telling myself that it is meant to be written for younger people and then my brain goes into young world and it's kinda nice!

Life as we Knew it - Susan Beth Pfeffer

2010-06-01T08:57:00.003-04:00

Genre: YA Fiction
Pages: 337

Format: Softcover

ISBN: 9780152061548
Rating: 4/5

I gotta admit I really did enjoy this one. I didn't know it was a series until I got to the end and I was very excited. There were some flaws of course but in the end I rated it based on the entertainment factor. I read it in 1.5 days and it kept me awake and I wanted to continue reading it so...

It is based on a young teenage girl, Miranda, who writes in her journal and I think it is an easy way to write a book because there are many details that you can leave out. It begins with her living a normal life with her friends and family and there are talks and news about a meteor that is expected to hit the moon and when it does it literally pushes the moon closer to earth and all these catastrophic events unravel and it's like the world comes to an end. All these things happen, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcano eruptions. Half of the known world is pretty much gone and it is in Miranda's journal that we learn this much but that it all we know which also makes the story good because it is pretty much all she knows too. There are no more news and how will she get any more information? It is definitely a good story and I am very much happy to get to the next installment< The Dead and the Gone, which is another teenage boy who lives in NYC and it is now his story of how these events effect him.

I gotta admit this is one of the few YA's that I truly enjoy and I wish I would have known how good it was before for I would have brought the box set! I wonder if there will be more after the 3?? Perhaps in the making...????

City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

2010-05-27T11:15:00.002-04:00

Genre: YA SiFi Fantasy

Pages: 485

ISBN: 9781416955078 (softcover)

Rating: 4 Stars

It took me longer than usual to read this book because of school and weddings but I am done now and here are my thoughts:

I really enjoyed it for reasons I cannot explain. I hated the Twilight series and I kept thinking what makes this different in terms of reality? I don't like the idea of science fiction fantasy but for some reason this one brought me to liking it and accepting it. I already have the set of three (the fourth has yet to be released).

I really liked the characters. I like how it played more to the now except it was really hard for me to believe that 16-years-old's knew so much or maybe I knew too little at the age. I also loved that they were in NYC. I love to read about my area because it is better for me to picture it. The ending was a little creepy and I wanted to bring the rating down to 3 stars but I kept pushing forward and told myself that I loved everything else so why lower it? I would rather have given it 3.75 stars but I had to choose.

This book, to me, wasn't suspenseful nor was it a true love story. It was a story with a lot of twists and turns and I thought it was captivating and inviting. Things seemed to be believable although it is obviously not. It is always hard to write reviews when I hate to do spoilers. it is my job to try to sell a book to other people and hope that they will read it but I figure let others make decisions. I read what I want to read and I read what my book clubs choose or take recommendations. I would never force someone to read a book but I would tell them to give it a chance.

The Seven Year Bitch - Jennifer Belle

2010-05-10T13:42:00.002-04:00

Genre: Fiction?
Pages: 318 ARC (336)
ISBN: 9781594487552 (in May)
Rating: 4.5 stars

Another one of my wins on Goodreads and this one blew me away. I really think that they picked me on purpose because i have never connected with a book in my life. I never even read books like this. This is strictly a woman's book and I would truly have passed it in a bookstore or anywhere for that matter and I can't tell you how happy I was to read this.

First, I kept looking at the cover wondering where my name was. I must have wrote this book or have helped in someway??? I couldn't relate to her any more. The only difference was having some sort of money. I don't have any and she clearly did but it is nice to know that money can't separate us! Everything she said made sense. It made me feel like I am not alone. the things we shared were:

- Having a sense of humor
- being a working Mom (although she stopped and I can't afford to)
- having an emergency c-section
- having a planned c-section
- always arguing with my husband thinking if it were gonna end up in divorce.
And just some much more. She even talked like me at times.

After reading this book it took a little weight off of my chest. Having 2 kids so close in age is very hard. I work full time, go to graduate school, my girls are 15 months apart, I have c-sections, and money is always super SUPER tight so you can imagine what me and my husband constantly argue about. This just proved that things are hard but you gotta just go with it. I assume things will be easier eventually and I am always making jokes and I try to make light of things but there are still pressures and I was grateful to have won such a book. I was laughing out loud multiple times and other times I had to call my sister or husband to tell them the funny or truthful things that I read. So thank you for my win and I really hope people would pick this up! I have been passing my views on to everyone!

Forever... - Judy Blume

2010-05-04T14:05:00.003-04:00

Genre: YA Fiction
Pages: 192

ISBN: 9781416934004

Rating: 4/5 Stars

People also sopke of Judy Blume and constantly told me to read her and I remember my friends reading her but I always felt that it was too "grilish" for me. I used to love R.L Stine and I liked the "gore" but now that I am older, older people are telling me to read it. So someone suggested that I read Forever... first, so I did and here is what I thought:

It brought me back to that age and I remember those feelings and it was kinda nice but also sad knowing that that innocence is lost and I will never know those clumsy, shy feelings but then again I like having these comforting feelings too but it just goes to show you that you grow old and things change you. Even the decisions you make when you are 15 or 18 years old. Granted some of the characters weren't so well rounded but I see that point Blume was trying to make and I think she hit it head on and it just makes me kinda sad and nostalgic. Oh, and it also scares the crap outta me knowing that my daughters will have to face these things when they get older. I mean, Blume wrote this in 1975 and even then s=things were racy but with ever turn of a century sex just gets more and more in your face and we can't run from it and it makes me nervous to know that my girls will have to face such challenges but I will just have to come up with ideas to help them through it. My parents were not like Kath's in the book (Whose parents really are now a days?) but they were pretty good and I think they did a decent job!

I can go on and on about this subject but I am sure we all have heard it before!

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

2010-05-03T12:35:00.003-04:00

Genre: Fiction
Pages: 444
ISBN: 9780399155345
Rating: 4/5 Stars

This was a good read. It kept you reading throughout the entire story. I am sure everyone has said it or heard about The Help but I gotta admit I didn't love it, was just good. At first I got annoyed of having a white woman speak in a black voice but then I realized that men write in women's voices all the time (and of course that annoys all of us women) so then what is the difference right? No one can really, truly write in the opposite anything voice so I had to just give up on that and move along. I tell myself that it is a story and I should read it that way instead of really analyzing it. I gave it 4/5 stars because I didn't fall in love with it but I did enjoy it all the same. But for some odd reason I really don't understand all the hype about this book. I mean, I know it brave, and dangerous on both sides but still I just saw it as an average good read and pretty much nothing more than that. There are so many other books that have similar situations or worse and they don't get as much praise as this one. But yet I still give it 4/5!

I kinda liked the whole idea of putting her spin on it. It was kinda like reading the story of how this book came about within the actual pages of this book. I guess you would really understand what I mean unless you have already read it but I do like how she Incorporated her life in Jackson, Mississippi to a life of "someone else". I also liked her little story at the end just to tie things up. It really put a close on the book. I had so many thoughts throughout the book and I guess it is a good thing that this book is not only my personal book club online at Goodreads but it is also one of the monthly book reads for my work book club so there will be lots to chat about.

Noah's Compass - Anne Tyler

2010-04-29T08:55:00.005-04:00

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 277

ISBN: 9780307272409

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

There is a lot to this story that i wish I could mention here but I hate to write spoilers so I will have to make do with what I got which may it may not be as informative as I would have liked. First, I have to mention that I have never heard of Anne Tyler and then I find out that she has such an amazing life story and I think she should create a memoir. Her husband is from Iran and passed away in 1997, they had 2 beautiful daughters, Tyler didn't attend school until she was 11 and still she attended Duke and Columbia, she was a librarian and a bibliographer, and now she is a writer. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for her eleventh novel entitled Breathing Lessons. She has a total of 18 books at the moment and I plan on reading many of them.

Her writing style reminded me a little of Richard Russo's style. They both write lovely stories that keep you engaged and brings them to life. She tells a realistic story and speaks very beautiful and Noah's Compass is such a nice tale about a 61-year-old schoolteacher, Liam, who gets robbed and knocked on conscious and can't remember a thing about it and then this just spirals into events of dating, and bringing family together expectantly. He keeps trying to remember what had happened so much so that it brings him to meet someone intimately and it also brings him to interact more intimately with his family as well.

It was a very quick, engaging, and a overall comforting read and I gave it 3.5/4 stars and I would definitely dig into more of her books.

Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout

2010-04-21T08:38:00.003-04:00

Genre: Fiction
Pages: 270
ISBN: 9780812971835
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Wow! I read this one pretty quick! This was our April book club read at work and I gotta say I did enjoy it but not what everyone put it out there to be. I really wanted to give it 3.5 stars but for Goodreads purposes I gave it 4 because you just can't give half stars yet.

This book is very touching and it makes you feel that just because you are old doesn't mean your life just stops. You can still go on and be loved and have love and even make love. These people in this book are 65+ and yest they are still out there cheating on their spouses! I am not saying that this is good I am just saying that you really never hear of such things happening when you are 72! My point is, is that you think of getting old as sitting on your rocking chair knitting sweater and watching reruns of old shows and at some points this may be but the elderly are still rocking it and just because they can't do certain things I am sure that they would given the opportunity.

There are a lot of sad things too, like having your friends and loved ones getting sick and dying. It sucks big time but I this book just goes to show you that you have to take things for granted and just live your live to the fullest because you are not always are going to be able to.

The Last Track - Sam Hilliard

2010-04-20T14:12:00.004-04:00

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 272

ISBN: 9780984203512

Rating: 4/5 Stars

First, I have to say that I won a copy from http://www.goodreads.com/ and I am glad that I did. I really enjoyed this book. I usually don't read mysteries, although I used to back when I was younger, but I very much liked this one and here is why:

Everyone was a suspect and you kept going back and fourth wondering who it was and then in the end you kinda knew it but it was a total shocker anyway!

This story was about a young boy, about 15, who witnessed a murder and ran into the woods and the police called in Mike Brody who is an expert in finding people and the events are of him and a police officer who are sent out into the woods to track him down and bring him safely home. The killer is in constant check with Brody to make sure that he is doing as told and had even threatened him if he did not give up the boy Sean, when and if found. Now, Mike was on vacation with him ex-wife and son so it was unexpected to do such a case but who can turn that down? A kid is missing. Anyway the story unfold scandals and truths and you are always going crazy thinking you know who the killer is but you really don't. I am so glad I entered this contest because this is such a great read and apparently there are more to come. So look out for the Mike Brody books!

Ten Days in a Madhouse - Nellie Bly (audio)

2010-04-14T08:33:00.010-04:00

I listened to Nellie Bly's Ten Days in a Madhouse and I thought it was very interesting. It was written in the late 1800's. Nellie Bly is the pen name of Elizabeth Jane Cochran. She went undercover to Blackwell's Island's Insane Asylum in New York, which is once known as Welfare Island and now known as Roosevelt Island. It is a total of 147 acres. According to the 2000 census, there are 9,520 residents. As it once was for an insane asylum, it is now a residential area.

Then

Now

Nellie went undercover to the women's insane asylum and told of the horrid truths of how the women got there are also how her and them were treated. She spoke of how there was no heat and how they were forced to take ice cold bath and had to share the same water and wore the same clothes for a month. It was horrible of the tales she spoke of. The food was rancid, and in small portions and so on. Most of the women were not crazy at all but simple women who may have yelled at someone or who may not have listened to a mere instruction. It amazes me that people thought this way back then without any real medical evaluations. People were treated different simply because they were upset or spoke aloud. Women were not thought to speak in such ways so if once they had that was it, they were sent to an crazy house!

All in all I gave 4/5 stars to Nellie Bly's book and I was happy at the end when she had a chance to confront all the brutal nurses and the non existent and horrible doctors!

Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

2010-04-07T08:47:00.002-04:00

Heard about this book on Goodreads and decided it sounded pretty good and since it seemed like a quick read I decided to give it a go but little to my knowledge did I know it was a school book. A very popular one at that!Everyone who ever read it said it was a sad book and that I should carry tissues with me and as I do admit I thought it was fairly sad, I feel I did not need tissues, maybe I am not as sentimental as others? Or maybe I went into it expecting myself to ball and then expected too much? I don't know but I really did enjoy the book. I gave it 4/5 stars!

What would yo do in Charlie's case? I would want to at least try to be smart too but there is a moral to the story, that even if you have what you always wanted it doesn't necessarily mean you will become happy. He had everything but the smarts. He had friends, a job he loved, and he seemed content in his life but when he was given the gift of intelligence it was all taken away and he was left with the realization that people did not look at him in the same way anymore, which is either bad or good??? But he became super smart and then arrogance set in. The character I hated the most is the obvious, I hauted his mother. Me, being a parent of two beautiful girls, I could never imagine turning one of them away or even putting them down! But it makes for a great story!

The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly

2010-04-01T12:27:00.002-04:00

This was definitely not my usual read. It's an adult fairy tale. I liked it and it was a quick read for a big fat book but I can't say that I loved it. It was enjoyable but I am not really into the whole fairy tale thing nor have I ever been. I hear great things about Connolly and that all his books are not quite the same so I am going to look into his other books, which is quite a few.

I gave this book 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed David's character and I like how he changed is OCD and all of his thoughts. This story was fun to read because it showed you just how naive you really are at that age and if you are brought to face your fears up front then it kinds forces you to open up and see the truth and face your problems head on. I love just how he grew up in a matter of days. It was enjoyable indeed but I still will stick to my style reading!

Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher

2010-03-25T08:16:00.003-04:00

Another YA book but I definitely enjoyed this one. I gave it 4/5 stars. It is a bout a girl who commits suicide and leaves cassette tapes and on 13 sides of the tapes (7 tapes total) she goes through what lead up to this point of her suicide. It sounds depressing but it is still a good read. I read it so quickly - 1 day! The book also takes place within an evening and it is being listened to by one of the people on the tape. The tapes have to get passed round to each person it the story. She mails the tapes out to the first person who she speaks of on the tape and then she goes to school and....So the first person on the tape listens to it and then has to mail it to the next person and so on. I don't want to say more in fear or Spoilers in which you guys know I don't like!

It is really a good read and I enjoyed it. Keep in mind that it is a YA (Young Adult) so if you are expecting a literary genius, look elsewhere, but if you are like me, looking for a fun fluff in between all those large books on your TBR (To Be Read) pile then go on and jump right in!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

2010-03-24T08:51:00.002-04:00

Okay, I put this book off for a while and without reason but now that we were to read it for my work book club I picked it up and read it in two days! I loved it. I was very endearing and heartfelt. I gave it 4/5 stars because something was holding me back from giving it a total of 5 and I am not truly sure why. I loved all the characters, especially Isola. She was great! I loved how she just simply spoke her mind and didn't care about anything! She was never afraid. I loved how she came right out and asked questions and in the 1940's it really wasn't common for women to do such things. Which brought me to the only flaw: Since the story was based on a series of letters, it was supposed to be written in the language of the 1940's but I didn't feel that it was. I was guessing that it was made for use to understand better but I just felt that the authors didn't quite grasp it, even though one of them lived through that time (and sadly died in 2008) it just didn't seem right but then again what do I know I was born 35 years later!

All in all I love to read World War II books. Even though it was a horrible time, it still brings to light the truth, the sad truth, but the truth to be told! This book definitely brought both sadness of the events and happiness and I caught myself smiling and also had moments where my heart literally sank in my chest and if you read it I am sure you know which parts exactly.

The Poacher's Son - Paul Doiron

2010-03-17T10:56:00.003-04:00

I used to love mysteries then I fell out of love with them and just recently I have decided to give it another go. So after Shutter Island, I got a chance to get an ARC from Barnes and Noble's First Look Book Club of The Poacher's son. I felt that it was not like a typical mystery. There were times that I was a little freaked out or nauseated about the animals but I really think Doiron created a nice picture. I am a city girl so it was hard for me to relate to certain things but I found a lot of it very interesting and I began to understand all those small town country elements. Doiron really creates a clear view of the towns as well as the people. He really allows the reader to picture everything in their heads.

I really think I would pick up another one of Paul's books. He is a very good writer and artist. I gave the book a total of 4/5 stars.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

2010-03-10T08:24:00.003-05:00

The book was recommended by many people and it was one of monthly reads for a book club that I am apart of on GR so I thought I would give it a good. I figured it was a light YA read but was shocked when I opened it up. First, I knew it was a banned book so I know it was going to touch many issues but for some reason I was not expecting what I dot but I gotta say that I personally enjoyed it and I probably would let my children read it if they were 15+ I doubt I would let them read it earlier than that. I just think that kids are exposed to drugs, alcohol, sex, homosexuality and the like so I don't think I would try to hide it from my kids nor would I push it on them. I would take it as it comes and deal with situations as they arise.

I always hear people say that they don't mind what their kids read so long as they read and others will say that they don't want their kids to read such filth but I say let them be! I will read what my kids read in hopes that we could converse on it and talk about it and maybe then we could tackle all those issues and I could answer any questions they have.Just look at the banned books. Really? There are so many great books on there! People are just too damn sensitive and should really come to reality!

Anyway, back to the book. I really liked it because it has a poetic feel to it and it just made me feel better. It's like you have to have some serious issues to be a genuine person! I wish that I had at least one teach who I could relate to like that. I loved all the people in the book. Each played their role and they played it well. It really makes sense that it is an MTV book because it fits what MTV does best and that is tell the truth of what really occurs in teenage life.

The Library Diaries - Ann Miketa

2010-03-09T12:51:00.003-05:00

This book took me forever to get. I really wanted to read it based on all the controversy. So much so that there are only a handful printed. They discontinued the printing, the woman got fired and the book is now officially banned! It sells on Amazon for $1000! Thankfully I got it for under $40. It's a bout a library worker (not a librarian mind you) explaining, or shall I say demeaning, her regular patrons. She explains how they are retarded, have low IQ's, how they shouldn't be allowed to procreate, hoe they live and feed of government assistance, and how some of them are some sort of intelligent but are lazy. She really goes off on these people.

The book was bad! It was basically her just raving and ranting about people and how screwed up the library itself was and how people should not live their lives. It seems like she is either writing in her diary or as if she is speaking to someone else. There were some things that I agreed with but mos of it was BS and she must have been so fed up with her job and she just ranted! Most of the stuff she didn't know for sure and there are always two sides to every story.

I just had to add this: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=72228

OK. I undestand the freedom of speech but try not to hurt people in the place where you work!

A Long Long way - Sabastian Barry

2010-03-08T09:05:00.003-05:00

This was my book club choice book for the month because he is an Irish writer and it is March but I just wasn't in the mood to read a war book so I felt myself getting distracted very easily. I would be reading and then have to go back because I forgot what I just read. I loved the way he writes and at points I felt myself reading it with a brogue. I am sure this book is better than I rated it but as I said I just didn't have the mind set. Maybe I will re-read it in the future when I am more than ready to read such a book.

Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan

2010-03-03T09:36:00.005-05:00

OK, I like this whole series even if this is only the second one! I still think the first one was better even though I found myself laughing more at this one I still felt like this one was more child-like then The Lightning Thief. I gave the first one 4/5 stars whereas, I gave Sea of Monster 3/5 stars. All and all I am very excited to get to the 3rd installment. I love when books have a continuation to the next especially if they are good reads. Riordan has a very fun imagination and I am sure he has done his research on Greek Mythology. It makes me want to start researching as well, but that's he librarian in me! I don't think I will be adding anymore research in my life until school is finished.

But I already put in a request for The Titan Curse and I know if will be some time for it to get to my library (especially since the movie is out now) so it may be some time until you here from me again!

Shutter Island - Dennis Lehane

2010-03-01T09:04:00.002-05:00

I haven't read such a psychological thriller in so long. I loved it. At first I was like "where is this going" and then I was like "Oh!" It had so many twists and turns and the ending just blew me away. It all started to click into place as I read along. I am very excited to go see the movie now! I only gave it 4/5 stars because I only give 5 stars to my absolute faves and although I very much enjoyed this book and read it in 2 days, I still couldn't bring myself to fully 100% love it. I would give it 4.75 stars!

Because of the film though, I just kept picturing Leonardo DiCaprio as Teddy so I can't really say who would be perfect for it because I already knew who was casted and of course I had to go onto IMDb to see who the rest of the cast was sooo.....

All in all I loved the book and recommend it to those who love twist and turns and psychological craziness!

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - John Boyne

2010-02-24T08:53:00.004-05:00

This was a very quick and easy read. I did enjoy this book however, I did find it a little too child-like. I mean, the book is written for YA's so I guess it makes sense and the story is told by a 9-year-old sooooo I really shouldn't say much on that topic.

Overall, it was an amazing story told by a young German boy and how he met another child on the other side. of the fence. This book shows how the children where not told the truth about what really was happening during WWII. I mean, it's hard to determine whether to tell the truth or not. You really don't want to tell them what is going on because you don't want to scare them nor do you want them to grow up with that image in their minds. But because they didn't tell them they have become naive and did not understand what was happening. I don't think I would tell my children in either situations.

Overall, a great read.